umns of writing, and it was composed
and written after the temple was completed. Like the first of the
cylinders, it concludes with a prayer to Ningirsu on behalf of the
temple, ending with the similar refrain, "O Ningirsu, glorify it!
Glorify the temple of Ningirsu after its construction!" The first
cylinder, as we have seen, records how it came about that Gudea decided
to rebuild the temple E-ninnu in honour of Ningirsu. It describes how,
when the land was suffering from drought and famine, Gudea had a dream,
how Nina interpreted the dream to mean that he must rebuild the temple,
and how Ningirsu himself promised that this act of piety would restore
abundance and prosperity to the land. Its text ends with the long
description of the sumptuous manner in which the patesi carried out the
work, the most striking points of which we have just summarized. The
narrative of the second cylinder begins at the moment when the building
of the temple was finished, and when all was ready for the great god
Nin-girsu to be installed therein, and its text is taken up with a
description of the ceremonies and rites with which this solemn function
was carried out. It presents us with a picture, drawn from life, of the
worship and cult of the ancient Sumerians in actual operation. In view
of its importance from the point of view of the study and comparison of
the Sumerian and Babylonian religious systems, its contents also may be
summarized. We will afterwards discuss briefly the information furnished
by both the cylinders on the Sumerian origin of many of the religious
beliefs and practices which were current among the later Semitic
inhabitants of Babylonia and Assyria.

When Gudea had finished building the new temple of E-ninnu, and had
completed the decoration and adornment of its shrines, and had planted
its gardens and stocked its treasure-chambers and storehouses, he
applied himself to the preliminary ceremonies and religious preparations
which necessarily preceded the actual function of transferring the
statue of the god Ningirsu from his old temple to his new one. Gudea's
first act was to install the Anunnaki, or Spirits of the Earth, in the
new temple, and when he had done this, and had supplied additional
sheep for their sacrifices and food in abundance for their offerings, he
prayed to them to give him their assistance and to pronounce a prayer at
his side when he should lead Ningirsu into his new dwelling-place.
The text then d